Yossi Sheffi explores the various flavors of redundancy, simplicity, flexibility and communications strategies businesses employ to make themselves resilient. “These are the most dangerous things; the things that have severe consequence and low probability…These are the events one worries about when one has to run a large organization.”

The PopTech Science Fellows program is a unique leadership development opportunity designed to help high potential working scientists become more effective communicators, collaborators and leaders both within and beyond the traditional bounds of academia. We recently announced our Class of 2012 Science Fellows and we're excited to share their world-changing work with the PopTech community.

The PopTech Science Fellows program is a unique leadership development opportunity designed to help high potential working scientists become more effective communicators, collaborators and leaders both within and beyond the traditional bounds of academia. We recently announced our Class of 2012 Science Fellows and we're excited to share their world-changing work with the PopTech community.

Kelly Benoit-Bird, an oceanographer at Oregon State University, applies acoustics to the study of ecosystems in the open ocean.

To learn more about Kelly, we asked: In one sentence, what impact do you hope to have through your work?

My goal is to perceive the sea the way its inhabitants do, for it is only when we understand how things work that we can do anything to solve the problems of planet Ocean.

Climate change is exacerbating flooding in waterlogged Bangladesh. Already, hundreds of schools get wiped out during the monsoon season. Mohammed Rezwan builds floating schools, healthcare facilities and libraries. “If 20 percent of the land goes under water, which may happen in the next 10 to 20 years, where will these people go? We don’t have enough space, enough land. People have to live on the water in some way.”

The PopTech Science Fellows program is a unique leadership development opportunity designed to help high potential working scientists become more effective communicators, collaborators and leaders both within and beyond the traditional bounds of academia. We recently announced our Class of 2012 Science Fellows and we're excited to share their world-changing work with the PopTech community.

Flaminia Catteruccia is a molecular entomologist at the Harvard School of Public Health, specializing in the reproductive biology of Anopheles mosquitoes, the only mosquitoes capable of transmitting human malaria.

To learn more about Flaminia, we asked: In one sentence, what impact do you hope to have through your work?

I seek to find innovative ways to eliminate disease-transmitting mosquitoes and help reducing the global burden of malaria.

The PopTech Science Fellows program is a unique leadership development opportunity designed to help high potential working scientists become more effective communicators, collaborators and leaders both within and beyond the traditional bounds of academia. We recently announced our Class of 2012 Science Fellows and we're excited to share their world-changing work with the PopTech community.

Thaddeus Pace is a biological psychologist at Emory University, exploring how compassion meditation and other complementary practices may improve the health and well-being of children and adults in challenging circumstances.

To learn more about Thaddeus, we asked: In one sentence, what impact do you hope to have through your work?

The goal of my work is to understand the biological and psychological foundations of how novel complementary approaches such as compassion meditation promote resilience in the face of significant life stress.

Eiríkur Hrafnsson calls his new company, Green Qloud, the world’s first green cloud computing company, bucking a frightening trend. “It is not far-fetched to imagine that in 30 or 40 years, 50 percent of our energy will be spent on IT.”

The PopTech Science Fellows program is a unique leadership development opportunity designed to help high potential working scientists become more effective communicators, collaborators and leaders both within and beyond the traditional bounds of academia. We recently announced our Class of 2012 Science Fellows and we're excited to share their world-changing work with the PopTech community.

Tiffani Williams is a computer scientist at Texas A&M University, creating algorithmic tools to reconstruct the Tree of Life, which depicts the evolutionary connections among the world's species.

To learn more about Tiffani, we asked: In one sentence, what impact do you hope to have through your work?

By reconstructing the Tree of Life, we will create new computationally-powered lenses for exploring the history of life's amazing diversity.

Víðir Reynisson, head of the National Commission of Icelandic Police, coordinates the country’s response to natural disasters, including the infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano, and oversees the country’s search and rescue teams. Iceland has developed a nimble crisis management model. “With all disasters, with all crises, comes opportunity.”